Dreams Really do Come True
by Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks
Summary: Harry Potter is depressed, after the death of his Godfather, Sirius Black. Is there anything, or anyone, who can help him realize that Dreams really DO come true?Does Ron Weasley still have his teaspoon's worth of emotion? Or is that now a tablespoon? And
1. Dreams and Owls

_It is the summer after fifth year and Harry is totally depressed. Will anything show him that Dreams really do come true? Ron/Hermione later on._

_Author's noteHarry Potter is not mine, and never ever will be… sigh Jo is so lucky._

Chapter One. Dreams and Owls

Harry sighed, had it really been a monthsince that day at the department of mysteries? It seemed like years had gone by, not just a month. He clearly remembered what happened after that curious-looking welcoming party of his met him, after he had gotten off the Hogwarts Express after his fifth year. How he wished that Sirius had been there…

"Darn!" Harry mentally shouted at himself, "why had he fallen for it? All it had really been was a false vision planted in his mind, and he had fallen for it!" Out loud, he spoke, his voice full of anguish, "Why did I do it? Why did I have to play the hero and try to rescue hum? If I had only worked harder with my Occlumency… then I would have known the vision was a fake, and Sirius would still be here…"

"No," a voice said in his head, "he was tired of being cooped up, he would have done something rash by now."

"No!" Harry mentally shouted back. "No! That's not true!"

"You know it is," the small voice replied.

"That's not true!" This time it was with less conviction.

Although it was only five, he suddenly did not want to be awake, drowsily, he stumbled over to his bed, and threw himself down. Without changing, Harry slipped off to sleep.

He was back at the department of mysteries. There were several still battling, but all Harry saw were two. He saw his godfather duck Bellatrix's jet of red light. He was laughing at her. Harry tried to scream out. He needed to stop him. He heard Sirius, he was yelling "Come on, you can do better than that!" Then time seemed to be standing still. He saw Bellatrix yell out the spell. Harry tried to warn him, he needed to duck! Maybe he could stop him! He found that he could not move. The jet of red light struck him squarely in the chest. The laughter had not died from his face. A shocked expression came over his face. He seemed to take ages to fall. His body arched slowly, and fell through the doorway behind him, and behind the veil. Harry heard Bellatrix's triumphant laughing…and woke up with a cold sweat.

It seemed to take Harry ages to fall back to sleep. A part of him did not want to. He did not want to live through his memories of the Department of Mysteries again. So when he finally slipped off to sleep, it was two o'clock in the morning.

_He was in a small room. There was a smell of cinnamon and peppermint. Through the dark he saw a mirror. It looked oddly familiar. Harry wondered where he had seen it before. Suddenly it came to it… it was the Mirror of Erised. Slowly, he walked towards the mirror. Slowly his reflection became clearer. Taking a deep breath, He looked at the mirror. What he saw suprised him. Faintly he could see many different people behind him. He recognized Ron, Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, members from the order; Lupin, Tonks, Moody, Dumbledore, and was that Snape? He saw his parents, and Sirius… but his eyes were focused on a solitary figure. A figure he recognized. Who was she? And why could he see her best of all? "I know her," Harry realized. "But who?" She was turning. "Good, I will find out who she is," thought Harry. But fog was filling the small room; even the room was fading from view. "I wonder who she is?" wondered Harry, as he drifted into a deeper, calmer sleep._

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

Harry woke with a start. "What the…" Harry groaned and rolled over. The luminous numbers on his alarm clock read 6:03. He was slowly drifting off again when again it sounded.

_Tap. Tap._

The noise finally persisted in waking him up. Harry sighed and slowly got up. It was probably Hedwig. She probably had another dead mole, or worse. But what he saw took him clear by surprise. Along with Hedwig were three others. He recognized Pig, Ron's owl flying in circles around the other owls' heads, but did not recognize the other two. Harry went to let them in, at the same time rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

All at once owls seemed to fill his room. Pig was flying around near the ceiling, while Hedwig and her companions landed on his bed. Harry realized that one of the owls on his bed had been carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. Quickly he gathered the letters that had been deposited there. With, the owl from Hogwarts soared out the window and disappeared out of sight. The second owl soon followed. Harry then went over to his desk, where Hedwig was patiently waiting. The letter she carried was thicker than he had realized at first. Harry offered her some water, which she gratefully drank. "Now for getting Pig," Harry thought to himself. When all five letters were on the bed, Harry finally relaxed.

Looking at his alarm clock, Harry suddenly realized that it was only seven in the morning. He decided to open his letters now. The first letter was definitely from Ron.

Harry,

How are you doing? Mum says we are going to Diagon Alley the first of August to get our school things. You should meet up with us then. Let me know if you can make it. I hope the muggles aren't treating you bad. Let me know about August first! Oh and Ginny wanted you to know that she was made a prefect.

Ron

"Now why would Ginny want me to know about that?" wondered Harry, as he ripped open the next letter. Harry instantly recognized it as being from Hermione.

Dear Harry,

I just wanted to write and see how you were getting along. Ron and I started to get worried when you would not write to us. I know how you must be feeling right now Harry. Well that isn't exactly true, I don't know how you feel, but I want you to know that we are thinking of you. Please don't let things get you down too much. I expect I will see you soon.

Love from,  
Hermione

Ps. I am staying at Ron's for the summer if you would like to contact me.

"That was nice of her," Harry spoke out loud. "It is nice to have someone who understands you." He turned to the next letter. He did not know whom it was from.

When Harry opened it, he was taken clear by surprise. It was from Ginny. "Now why would she be writing me?" Harry wondered. "I guess I will soon find out."

Dear Harry,

Well, I don't exactly know how to begin. I know it must be surprising to hear from me, as I have never written you before, but…well, I've been thinking about you quite often lately. I wanted to write to you because I thought you would be feeling particularly bad this summer. I'm not sure what I can do to help, but I will do whatever I can.

I hope you will not think me silly for writing this. I am just hoping I might be able to be there for you, as you were there for me during my first year. 

I look forward to seeing you, as always, and I hope this letter serves to help take your mind off things for a while.

Ginny

Shocked, Harry stared at the letter. He had not been expecting this. "When has Ginny become so generous and kind?" Harry asked himself. Suddenly he realized it. For years, all he had thought of Ginny was the fact that she was his best friend's little sister. Never had he known… "What am I thinking?" Harry silently asked himself, "When did I start to have those types of feelings towards her? After all the time I have known her?"

Mind still wandering, Harry turned to the last letter. "Of course… O.W.L. results, I might have known."

Dear Mr. Harry James Potter

This letter is to inform you of your scores on your recent Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations, which you took this passed June. We are happy to say that you have received 8 out of 9 OWLs.

Astronomy – Grade of A  
PracticalA

TheoryE

Charms – Grade of O  
PracticalO

TheoryO

Care of Magical Creatures – Grade of O  
PracticalO

TheoryO

Defense Against the Dark Arts – Grade of O+  
Practical—O+

TheoryO

Divination – Grade of A

PracticalP

TheoryA

History of Magic – Grade of P

TheoryP

Herbology – Grade of O  
PracticalO

TheoryE

Potions – Grade of O

PracticalE

TheoryO

Transfiguration – Grade of E

PracticalE

TheoryE

We hope you are pleased with your results. A list of courses in which you are permitted to enroll can be found accompanying this letter. Please send your requested course list back no later than 17 August.

Sincerely,  
The Wizarding Examination Authority

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed, awestruck, "Hermione is going to love this!"

By now, it was nearing eight o'clock. Quickly, he stuffed the letters under the loose floorboards, which were beneath his bed. There was a loud crash. Harry turned to see that his door was open. Suddenly Uncle Vernon's enraged voice was heard to bellow, "Those bloody owls!" As loud, angry footsteps sounded up the hall, Harry noticed that both Hedwig and Pigwidgion were not in the room, although the window was shut. "Oh no," groaned Harry.

It was just the beginning of another day at Number Four, Privet Drive.


	2. Problems may Come

Problems May Come

Harry's encounter with Uncle Vernon earlier that day had sunk a deadly mood over the house. After the shouting match with Uncle Vernon, who decidedly did most of the shouting, he had been locked in his room again with little hopes of leaving it anytime soon. The cat flap was once again in use, as were the rationed trips to the loo. To make things worse, they had also locked Hedwig's cage.

"Its so that YOUR bloody owl will not get loose in MY house and wreck havoc yet again!" Uncle Vernon had bellowed when he had protested this. When Harry had reminded him that his Wizarding friends would get worried and drop by, he had sputtered, "Fine! Grimacing he spoke, "Your owl will be let out, but only on these conditions; First there will be no more complaints to us OR them, secondly, you will do as Petunia and I say, or you will face the consequences, and finally, you will write whenever you need to, SO THEY KNOW YOU ARE FINE!" Uncle Vernon was yelling as he finished, his face a blotchy purple.

By then, Harry had grown extremely weary of the whole incident and had angrily stormed to his room, slamming the door behind him. It was to that that Hedwig's cage had not been unlocked. It had also cost him the meals he would have gotten for the next day or so. As he hadn't really had much of an appetite during the summer, it had not really bothered him. True, he was getting thinner, but it just did not matter much to him anymore.

Harry looked at his makeshift calendar which he had made to count the days down until August the first. It showed that it was July the 15th. In two weeks he, Harry would be out of here. Hopefully. "Maybe I should use just a bit of magic to unlock Hedwig's cage," Harry pondered to himself, "it would not hurt, would it?" But when he went to her cage, the lock clicked open. He had then let her out.

Slowly, his mind came back to the present. Glancing at his bedside clock, Harry noticed that it read 1:15. He then stared miserably up at his bedroom ceiling. What had started out, as a great day had suddenly become one of his worst nightmares.

"Well not quite. That is not my worst nightmare. Oh no. Maybe at the moment, it is, but when night comes, then so will my worst nightmare." Harry bitterly thought, "That one always comes. There is no stopping it, that's for certain."

Slowly, Harry's thoughts shifted to his present predicament. Not only had Pig and Hedwig gotten out into the house earlier, but also they had gotten into the partially open door that led to his being locked in here. The doorway led to his aunt and uncle's bedroom. Aunt Petunia had not been in there, but unfortunately Uncle Vernon had been. And now, for the third time in two weeks, he, Harry had been locked in his room for an unknown amount of time.

Although his uncle Vernon had told him that he would not eat, Aunt Petunia had slipped him some vegetable stew and a piece of stale bread through the cat-flap in his door. As she had been quick and silent the entire time, he had been unable to thank her. She had been doing things like this every now and then ever since he had gotten back from Platform 9 ¾ just weeks before.

"Maybe it is because of the welcoming party that I had."

Harry chuckled to himself. He could still see the scandalous expression on Aunt Petunia's face when Tonks had spoken to her.

"But," a voice said in his mind, "Maybe she is remembering my mother… after all, she was her sister."

Startled at the path in which his thoughts were going, Harry stopped. And sighed.

"Aunt Petunia is treating me better, but Uncle Vernon? With him I do not stand a chance. Besides, how am I supposed to defeat the most evil wizard of all time when I cannot even stand up to my uncle, a muggle, for more than ten minutes?"

With a sigh, Harry looked at his alarm clock. It read 1:39.

"Maybe if I had something to actually do," Harry muttered, "time would go faster. But no, the Dursley's have not even given me many chores to do this summer. I believe they are scared of what the Order might do. Scared that they will turn up at any moment. And as there is no homework the summer after OWLS, I really do not have anything to do. Even a potions essay would be welcome now to get my mind off things."

Harry's thoughts drifted back to his first day back. Uncle Vernon's words still echoed in his mind. "Now you listen here boy," He had snarled, "No matter what your freak friends say, I am still head of my household, and you will do as I say, when I say it. First, you will write to, to whomever you need to write to, so they know you are all right! And if I hear that you have said anything to the contrary, you will have me to answer to. Do you understand me boy?"

Suddenly, he came to his senses with a jolt. After the morning's incident, he had sent Hedwig out. Tomorrow he, a note from him, Harry was due to arrive at the Order headquarters... and he had not sent it yet. Hopefully they would not mind it's being just a bit late. Maybe if he sent it as soon as she came back.

"I just do not want them to worry." Harry spoke out loud. "If they do not come down here, then they will not have a cause to."

The voice in his mind rebuffed him. "Of course they worry. Just think of what they would feel if they knew you have not been eating much, or sleeping well. Then you can talk about worry."

With a sigh, Harry looked down at himself.

It was true. Without the proper amount of food and sleep, he had gotten much thinner.

He just hoped that they would not worry too much.

"The tiny voice in his head that sounded just like Sirius spoke up again, "Come on Harry, think about it. Repeat after me. They care about you. Come on Harry! They will worry. They will definitely worry about you if they knew what you have been doing to yourself. There is nothing that you can do to stop them from doing it. Face it, they care. You can't just push them away. They made choices, Sirius made choices, YOU made choices."

"Oh course I did." Harry mentally replied. "And where did that get me? Because of me, some of my classmates were endangered, my best friends were nearly killed, AND Sirius died."

"You're not back at that subject again, are you?" The voice answered. "It Was Not Your Fault! Listen to me. No matter what you say, Sirius was the one that choose to go to the Department of Mysteries. You did not make him do it, it was his choice. Just believe that boy."

Wearied by the constant bickering that he was having within himself, Harry stood up and sighed, walking over to his window. As he stared out at the darkening sky, he had not the slightest idea about what was occurring in a certain house, somewhere in the midst of London. For yes, at that very moment, a rescue party or sorts was being formed to get him inside Number 12 Grimmauld Place.


	3. What Comes of It

Well I guess I should say this now before it gets to be too late… Harry Potter is all Mine! Darn, at least I really wish he was. But Nope! He is All Jo's… only the plot is mine.

Chapter Three. What Comes of It

Suddenly there was a loud crash downstairs. Harry jumped, drawing his wand from his pants pockets.

"Could it be a burglar?" Harry thought to himself. "But wait a minute… they would not make so much noise if they were burglars. And they most certainly would keep their voices down."

He was standing in front of his door with wand raised, when it burst open. There was silence, Then…

"Harry? What in heavens name have you been doing to yourself?"

Standing in the door were none other than Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Hermonie Granger, and Ron and Ginny Weasley.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean," Hermonie blurt out, "You have not been eating, have you."

It was Moody who spoke up next as Harry slowly put his wand back in his back pocket. "And don't put that there boy. Remember, you could lose a buttock if it ignited. Then what would we do? Foolish boy!"

To that Tonks sniggered softly. "I guess we will never learn, now will we Harry." She said this as she quietly pulled her wand from her back pocket.

"Good thing it did not ignite, right?" She said quietly, rolling her eyes, so Moody could not see, as she saw that Harry was goggling openmouthed at her.

"I saw that." Moody spoke grumpily.

Still shocked by their sudden appearance, Harry stuttered out the first thing that came to mind.

What are you doing here?

After a moments pause, Ron spoke up, "We have come to take you away from here of course! What else did you think we would do, leave you here with those dratted muggles?"

"Oh. But how did you…"

This time it was Ginny who spoke up. "We used a portkey Harry. You really should have seen us land. Tonks here," Tonks grinned guiltily, "well she sort of landed a bit wrong, and well, she broke a couple pieces of china. I hope your aunt and uncle will not be too angry about that."

"By the way," Harry found his voice again, "where are they? Did Tonks…"

"Yup!"

"What did she do this time?"

"Well," Ginny spoke, "I believe that she wrote a letter saying that your uncle was being promoted, and that there was some sort of an appreciation dinner in is honor. I guess they fell for it too!"

"Oh no… Uncle Vernon has really been wanting that for quite a while now… he is going to be so furious when he finds out! On the other hand, I will be gone when they return, right?"

"We will be leaving as soon as you are packed." Replied Remus. "Tonks, no! I will go this time. We would not want you to break anything else, now would we?" Tonks apparently was planning to help Harry pack, but there were other plans.

Then, without another word to each other, they climbed up the stairs that led to his room. As Harry started to pick up several of the books that lay around the room, Remus Lupin spoke up.

"Harry, I will do that."

With a sweep and flick of his wand, Harry's stuff went flying neatly into his trunk. As Harry shut the lid, Remus Lupin spoke again.

"Harry, I think we need to have a talk."

"What do you mean?" Harry inquired.

"What I mean, Harry," here Lupin paused. "Is that you cannot be doing this to yourself. Grieving is very good for oneself, as long as you are not punishing yourself at the same time. Believe it or not, I had a similar problem earlier this summer. If I had not been talked out of me endless grief, I just may have been a lot like you are now. But Nymphadora talked to me and well, I was finally able to realize that… there are more important things, then well… then grief." Here he stammered to a stop, face flushing slightly.

Grinning for the first time at Lupin's discomfort, Harry spoke up.

"Professor? Are you telling me that you and Tonks, that you are, well, that you are, umm, well together?"

At that comment, Lupin flushed even more. By now he was almost as red as the trademark Weasley hair.

"Well maybe, but Harry that's not my point. I mean you just should not be so grief-stricken. And another thing, please do not call me Professor; after all, I have not been doing any teaching lately. Just call me Remus."

Here he paused before adding one more thing.

"Or you could call me Moony."

After a long pause, Harry answered.

"That would be great. Thanks Moony."

"Well we had better be going Harry."

Harry started. He realized that he had been grinning lopsidedly out into space.

"Yes, I suppose we should."

Happier than he had been for a very long time, Harry left his room, turning to say something to Moony before he shut the door on that part of his life.

"I suppose I will not be back here for quite a while, now will I?"

And without another word, Harry Potter bounded down the stairs two at a time, grinning and ready to face the world.


	4. Startling Revelations

It is the summer after fifth year and Harry is totally depressed. Will anything (or anyone) show him that Dreams really do come true? Ron/Hermione later on.

Harry learns about the finality of Sirius's Estate, and something very startling happens to Ron and Hermonie.

Note. I do not own anything in this story... sigh... besides the plot that is... Jo is so lucky!

Chapter four. Startling Revelations

As Harry came bounding down the stairs, with Moony right behind, he did not notice the startled looks that he was getting from his rescuing party. Apparently they were not expecting this sort of reaction to Moony's little talk. Moody and Tonks both gave Lupin a searching look, but he only shook his head, clearly as bewildered as they were. It was as if someone had put a strong cheering charm on Harry.

When they were all in the kitchen, and the china repaired, Moody pulled something out from his pocket.

"We would not be wanting to lose this." He rasped out.

When Harry looked at it closer, he saw that it was what looked like a slimy bundle of papers.

"Portus." Moody muttered. "And yes, it is authorized. I believe that the Ministry is finally coming to it's senses. Everyone, grab hold. It activates in one minute."

After a moments silence, everyone did as told. With a sudden jerk by his navel, Harry found himself flying through the air and landing in a heap… only to be gathered up in a bone-breaking hug.

"Harry, dear. How nice to see you." Mrs. Weasley breathlessly greeted him while her arms were still rapped around him.

"I have got to go give those muggles of yours a good telling off. They have obviously not been feeding you well. Now I have this very nice dinner waiting for you if you will just come with me…" She trailed of as Lupin cleared his throat.

"I'm sure Harry would love to do that Molly, but first, Professor Dumbledore and myself have something to go over with him. I fear that it has something to do with Sirius. I really need to speak to Harry again.

Harry opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Something had just caught his eye. Apparently, not everyone had landed smoothly. For there on the ground, in the most awkward position were two people. Ron. And Hermonie. They were staring, shocked at each other, gaping at their very interesting predicament. It was Hermonie who came to her senses first.

"RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY! YOU GET OFF ME THIS INSTANT!"

Flushing a much redder color than all the Weasleys hair put together, Ron scrambled to untangle his legs from hers, all the long muttering incoherent apologies.

Mione, I'm sorry.. I mean.. it was the portkey! I think I… I mean I let go sooner… sooner than I meant… I mean, really! Why didn't I fall the other way? I mean, Mione come on…

Hermonie just glared at him before storming off to her room.

Ron was still looking bewilderedly after her, when he noticed that it had become very quiet in the room. Gulping, he looked from Hermonie's retreating figure to Mrs. Weasley's furious face before trying to flee the room. But he did not get very far before another very similar outburst was directed his way.

"RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY! YOU GET OVER HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

This time it was an extremely angry Mrs. Weasley who was shouting at him. As he meekly complied, everyone else in the room quietly crept out of the room. No one wanted to be present while Mrs. Weasley gave anyone a piece of her mind.

When they were out of earshot, Harry, Lupin, and Tonks burst out laughing.

"Did you see the look on Ron's face after he saw where he had landed?" burst out Tonks with an unladylike chortle of laughter.

When Harry noticed that Lupin was laughing also, he gave a small laugh before turning to Moony.

"You had something to tell me?" He asked.

"Yes. Just come into this room..."

Harry looked around. He never knew that there could be so many rooms in the Burrow. They were in a small bedroom that did not seem to have been used in quite some time. With a start, Harry realized that it was probably Percy's room. He was wondering if Percy had rejoined the family yet when he noticed something else. Harry had just noticed a glimmer of something… It was like light sparkling on glass. Then he saw it again. It was behind a desk that Harry had not noticed before. The desk was on one side of the room, and seated behind it, looking down onto Harry over his half moon spectacles, was none other than the Hogwarts Headmaster. Albus Dumbledore.

There was a moment of silence, and then Dumbledore spoke.

"Hello Harry. Now, I have not much time so we will have to get through this a bit quicker than I would like. As Remus here should know, Sirius Black's name was cleared shortly after that unfortunate experience in the Department of Mysteries, in June. I had hoped that he would tell you that Harry, but I believe that he got side tracked by something else."

At that, Dumbledore gave a pointed look at Lupin, who had the good grace to look ashamed. At that point Harry was not understanding what was happening between Lupin and Professor Dumbledore.

Harry cleared his throat loudly. The two professors stopped their soundless communication.

"Ah, yes. Of course. Now with the clearing of Sirius's name, his final will has also been accepted as valid. Harry, he has left his house, number 12 Grimmauld Place and all of its contents to you. This does include Kreacher, Harry. And he has left the contents of the Black Family Vault to be divided between the two of you. I should say, there's quite a hefty amount of gold in that vault, and with the chest of family jewels. I believe that you two may find those to be quite useful."

At that, Lupin flushed. Apparently he had thought of a way that they could become useful.

And on a lighter note, Sirius has asked that you, Remus, become Harry's new Godfather. I believe that he thought that you two would need each other if he were to die. And Harry? May the Order continue to meet at Grimmauld Place? It is your home now.

"Of course Professor."

"Well, we will have to go pay it a little visit tomorrow. It seems that the door has sealed itself off to anyone but you. Now, I believe that I am going to go have a nice big piece of Molly's Shepard Pie. I hear it is quite delicious."

With that, the three of them headed back downstairs.


	5. A Return to Toujours Pur

It is the day of Harry's return to Grimmauld Place. This day will take Harry and Co. from Harry's very scary dream, to a very mean elf, to a hidden treasure of sorts somewhere within Harry's own House. But first, there is the problem of actually getting there.

Note. Harry Potter is not mine. The only thing that is… is the plot line. Unless Jo uses something like that in her story… in which that would be hers also… enjoy!

A Return to Toujours Pur 

"Harry!"

"Wake up!"

"Come on Mate, WAKE UP!"

"Harry, Don't do that!"

"Please Harry, wake up!"

"Stop it Harry! You're scaring me!"

Ron did not know what to do. How could he? As far as he knew, Harry had never been like this before. Sure he, Ron, had seen Harry in one of his nightmares several times before, but this one now? It was much, much, worse than any he had ever witnessed before. Harry was twisted in his sheets, face just as white as they were, if not whiter, with a slight grayish tone. Droplets of sweat were forming along his forehead as he twisted and turned, trying to escape from some monster in his sleep. Moaning, he struggled against his hidden foe. Suddenly he let out a bloodcurdling shriek. A great scream of pain, suffering, and one of loss.

"HARRY, WAKE UP!"

Now, Ron was more scared than he had ever been in a very long time.

Still staring wide-eyed at the struggling form of Harry, Ron pondered this as quick as he could. Yes, he Ron was not easily terrified. He had not had much that did. Not since that experience with the giant spiders in his second year. But now there was something to take that memory's place. Now, in the dark hours before dawn, this was, if possible, at least ten times worse than that ever was. And that was saying something, because he, Ron was terrified of spiders of all shape and size. And only spiders, he told himself. Suddenly Harry let out another anguished bone bitter scream. It was a scream that seemed to turn Ron's very marrow into solid Ice. Now Ron was truly terrified. Not caring if anyone heard him, he pleaded with the unconscious form of his struggling friend.

"Harry! Please wake up!"

"What is all this ruckus about?" A very sleepy voice asked from the doorway.

Ron looked up to see his mum. Never before had he been so relived to see her form so late at night.

"Mum! It's Harry! I cannot wake him! I think he is having a nightmare again…" Ron trailed off.

To Ron, Molly Weasley spoke before heading over to Harry's bed. "The poor dear. No wonder he has those big bags beneath his eyes. He has not been able to sleep for who knows how long."

"Harry dear. Wake up. It's only a dream"

Slowly, Harry quieted down. Turning slightly towards the comforting voice, he reached out blindly until he had grabbed hold of her hand with both of his own. Time seemed to pass by slowly as he calmed down. Slowly opening his eyes, a crack, Harry croaked out a single question.

"Mum? Is that you?"

Wiping a tear from her eye with her dressing gown sleeve, Molly Weasley whispered gently.

"Yes dear, it is."

Without another word spoken, Harry slipped of into a dreamless sleep, unaware of the fact that he had finally come home at last.

As sunlight streamed through the orange curtains into an equally orange room, only one solitary person was to be seen. Harry Potter had finally awakened from his long and hard night's sleep to find that he was the only person in the bedroom. As his senses slowly woke up, he realized that his best mate, Ron, had gotten up before he had, a tremendous achievement on Ron's part. Slowly, he got up from his bed, struggling to remove himself from the twisted and knotted sheets in which he very much was tangled up in. He was mystified in how they had gotten into that state, as he rarely moved much in his sleep.

"Unless I had another of my dreams and I did not remember it." Harry mused.

Finally out of the sheets, he got dressed and headed downstairs, still unaware of what had happened just hours before, in the dead of night.

As he made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen, Harry was startled by the lack of all noise that greeted him. Usually, the Burrow was a buzz in the morning. This was different. This morning, you could probably hear a pin drop, it was so quiet in there.

"Good morning, Harry dear. Did you get enough sleep?"

"Yes Mrs. Weasley, I did. Where is everyone? It is so quiet in here."

"I sent them outside. I did not want them waking you before you were ready."

"You did not have to do that Mrs. Weasley."

"Don't be silly Harry. We just wanted to let you sleep after the rough night you had."

Harry looked up. Hermione had just come in the door, her slightly bushy brown hair blown wildly around and into her face. Her cheeks were a bright cherry red from the cold outside, and she had a worried expression on her face.

"Everyone is playing Quiddich outside if you want to join them after you eat Harry. Ron has been trying to get me to like it, but I am not too sure that I do yet…" Hermione trailed off. "I forgot, that Umbridge woman never returned your broom. I'm sure you will get it back before the beginning of school Harry. So don't worry about it."

"Anyways, Harry, we will be headed to Grimmauld Place at nine o'clock. There is some unfinished business there that we have to deal with if you remember our talk with Dumbledore last night."

Harry looked up. That was not Mrs. Weasley who said that. A tired looking Lupin was standing at the foot of the stairs. Answering Harry's unspoken question, Mrs. Weasley spoke up.

"Remus is staying in Percy's room for the time being, as he has nowhere else to go until you open your house. You will be living there, will you not Remus?"

"If Harry allows me to, then of course I will."

"Of course you can!"

Harry spoke quietly, but with great conviction. But when Harry noticed the weary expression on his new godfather's face, he smiled and then spoke to him with great concern in his voice.

"Are you feeling ok Moony? You look rather ragged this morning."

"I'm alright. Its just that full moon is in a couple of days and my body's beginning to feel the effects of it."

Suddenly, Hermione spoke up hotly.

"I wish that someone would find a cure or something for that! Then you would not have to suffer at every full moon."

"Well actually, I do believe that there are several people looking for one at this time.

As Harry and Hermione's startled expressions turned into ones of excitement, Lupin put up a hand and spoke again, his voice anxious.

"But please do not tell anyone. Because it is not really authorized. The people involved might get into serious trouble. Now Harry, I believe that you and I should have some of this breakfast now before it gets cold. We would not want Molly's hard work to go to waste."

With that Harry and his godfather sat down and began to eat, never knowing about the strange and wonderful things that would happen that day.

As Harry was finishing his eggs and toast, there was a sudden burst of noise as Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Charlie and Bill burst into the kitchen.

"Is Harry up yet?"

"Morning Professor!"

"Morning Mum!"

"Is there any more food? I'm starving!"

"You can't be hungry again Ron! You ate thirty minutes ago!"

"Oh there you are Harry!"

"Did you sleep well Harry?"

"Are you ready to go to your house?"

"I wish I had my own house."

"Don't be silly Ron."

"I still wish I had my own house!"

"But you don't! So don't make a fuss."

"Hem! Hem! Quiet everyone!"

Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Harry all jumped and became deathly silent at Ginny's very accurate imitation of Hogwarts previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Delores Jane Umbridge.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Ginny burst out laughing at her brothers' discomfort.

"Sorry Harry, I did not see you there. I did not mean to scare you, just them."

With his hand covering a small smile, Lupin spoke.

"Nice one Ginny. Now we really need to get going if we want to get to Grimmauld Place at 9 o'clock as planned."

There was a chorus of answers to this statement.

"Yes Professor."

"Yes, of course, Lupin."

"Right on Moony."

"Whatever you say Remus."

"You wish is are our command Lupin old' chap."

Everyone stared at Fred after that one, (Or was it George?) but he just shrugged, looking wide eyed around the room as if to say, "Who Me? I did not say anything."

The silence that resulted from the recently said remark was suddenly broken when Ron spoke up.

"Umm, professor? How exactly are we getting there? Please not a Portkey. I cold not stand going through another… another umm, another mistake… in landing like yesterday."

"What happened?"

It was Ginny who spoke up, clearly interested, her mind wandering over what she already knew about it.

She had just started on a particularly difficult essay for potions (One she had been putting off for some time) one on the properties of moonstone, and it's many uses, when Hermione had burst into her room red faced. Right before she had shut the door, Ginny heard her mum yelling at Ron, but she could not hear what she had been saying. She had tried to get Hermione to tell her what was wrong, but the more she persuaded her to tell, the more tightlipped she became about the whole incident. And here she was, about to find out! Ginny caught her breath.

"Why is he blushing?" Ginny thought to herself. "He only does that if he's done something. I know he did, because why else would mum have yelled at him last evening? It clearly had something to do with the portkey. Oh why? Why didn't I stay after we got Harry here?"

Ginny looked up in time to hear Ron speak hurriedly.

"Never you mind. What you don't know will not hurt you."

Ginny looked around the room. Nobody seemed to want to say anything. She looked over at Tonks, who winked and mouthed "I'll tell you later."

Out loud Ginny spoke, her voice wheedling.

"Of course it is a Portkey Ronnikins. How else would we travel there? Grimmauld Place is not connected to the floo, and you know we cannot apparate yet; we're much too young. Besides, aren't Portkeys the most fascinating way to travel? I mean, Ronnikins, you can learn so many things."

"Such as what its like to be positioned on top of Hermio…"

"Shut it George!"

"Nope! He's not George, I am."

"Ok! Then Shut it Fred!"

"Gotcha Ron! He is Fred, I am George!. Won't mum be ever so pleased to find out that she is not the only one to get us two mixed up?"

Now Ginny smiled. She finally knew what most of the fuss was all about. There had unmistakably been a mishap after they landed back in the Burrow kitchen last night. "And," Ginny mused, "The tangle up was between Ron and Hermione. What I would have given to see it with my own two eyes!"

Her thoughts were interrupted when Lupin spoke up.

"As Ginny here has told us, we will be traveling to Grimmauld Place by Portkey. The Portkey activates in three minutes. If you will be kind enough to grab hold of this, we will be all set."

Ginny looked up to see what he was holding, and chucked softly when she saw what it was. A molted maroon sock, full of holes, and extremely filthy was gripped in her former professor's outstretched hand. She could recognize it anywhere. And so could, apparently, Ron, whose ears had turned a bright red yet again. It looked like it had been everywhere, except where it had originally belonged… on Ron's foot. "Why would he choose one of Ron's old socks to make into a portkey? Of course, it never would have had any sentimental meaning to him, but still!"

"Come on, everyone, grab hold before the time for the portkey runs out."

Remus was sounding rather feed up with the whole lot of them. And he had every right to be. For if they did not grab onto it soon, they would have face up and pay the consequences. Lupin would then be heading off to Grimmauld Place without them.

Reluctantly grabbing hold of Ron's moldy sock just in time, everyone felt the jerk behind the navel, as they were pulled from the kitchen in the warm Burrow and to the door of number 12 Grimmauld Place.

The families in the many houses that made up Grimmauld Place, London, were settling down to a nice and peaceful morning, if that neighborhood could ever be called peaceful. At Grimmauld Place, people were used to strange occurrences or disappearances. They had always occurred. As to the fact that some of them were not quite natural, nobody paid any notice. Disappearances, murders, and oddities were always happening in this district. One oddity that they had always known, was the absence of a number 12 Grimmauld Place.

The residents who lived in numbers 11 and 13, had always wondered why a Number 12 never was built between their own houses. But this was something they never discussed. For somehow, every time that subject came to mind, it would be banished from their minds, to be replaced with more important information. And, because for all the years that they had lived there, there had never been mention of there ever have being one, they found that information as irrelevant. As far as they were concerned, Number 12 never had been built. But how wrong they were.

On this fateful day in mid July, none of them were looking outside. They were so busy with their stereos and television sets, that they did not notice the sudden appearance of eight figures where there had previously been none, right outside of numbers 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place.

"Urph! I really do dislike traveling this way you know."

"Of course, Ron but it is the safest way to travel, as we are still underage. Even you should know that."

"But even that does not mean that I have to like traveling that way Hermione."

"Just so you know, Ron," Hermione put in huffily, "I dislike portkeys just as much as you do, if not more! And besides, traveling that way with you, does not make it any better! It actually makes it worse! Half the time you do not even land on your feet!"

"You mean like… yesterday?"

"Of course Ronald! That's exactly what I meant by that!"

"well you know full well that that was not my fault! It was the bloody portkey!"

"It was too your fault Ron!"

"It was not!"

"It was too!"

"No it wasn…"

"And don't you even try to deny it, because it was!"

"Oh, shut it you two." Fred spoke up, irritated. "We don't want to be here all day, you know!"

With Ron and Hermione silent and looking daggers at each other, the group of them settled down, before Harry looked up to Lupin for assurance.

"Moony? How do I…"

His unfinished question was interrupted by Lupin's response.

"Harry, what you need to do is place your hand on the door and speak your name. Make sure you speak clearly. I am not too sure of what will happen next, but that is what professor Dumbledore said needed to be done."

"And then we will be let in?"

"It should let us in, Harry. At least, that is what Dumbledore told me would happen."

At Harry's indecision, Ron spoke up.

"Go ahead Harry! The door does not bite."

"Or, at least, we don't think it does. We have not tried yet."

This time it was Tonks who spoke up, her eyes full of mischief.

"Come on Harry! Lets find out!" Fred spoke up, a little too loudly, scaring a small bird out of the scrawny tree positioned right behind him.

"So don't be a wimp Harry!" continued George, "It probably is harmless! Lets go ahead and give it a try!"

"Some help you are." Muttered Harry as he slowly stepped up to the threshold and shakily put his hand on the filthy black door.

What came next, went way beyond what even the mischief creating Fred and George could ever have came up with, even in their wildest dreams.

Evil cliff hanger… laughs wickedly


	6. The Mauraders Ride Again

Harry Potter is not mine, and hey, he never will be. Darn… those emerald green eyes, the color of a fresh-pickled toad, will never be mine, although I have a pair of them myself! Well back to the story… enjoy it!

Chapter Six.

The Marauders Ride Again

"IT'S YOU!" snarled the unmistakable voice.

Right after Harry had put his hand on the door, something unexpected had happened.

"I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT MY TRAITOROUS SON WOULD PICK YOU!"

Everyone jumped. What had just been the green, snake shaped doorknocker had transfigured itself into something else. Someone else. The grimy and scowling face of Mrs. Black, which was eyeing Harry with her hate filled eyes, was sticking out of the door.

"I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! WITH HIS BETRAYING MY NOBLE HOME THAT HE WOULD THINK OF DOING THIS. OF HIS DISGRACING ME MORE THAN EVER BEFORE! EVEN AFTER HIS WORTHLESS HIDE LIVES NO MORE! FIRST LETTING MUDBLOODS, HALF-BREEDS, BLOOD TRAITORS, HALF BLOODS AND FILTH ENTER THE HOME OF MY FATHERS! AND NOW THIS BOY HERE WILL TAKE IT ALL AWAY! HE WILL TAKE AWAY MY HOME! HE IS TAKING IT AWAY FROM THE MOST ANCIENT AND HONORABLE HOUSE OF BLACK! AND WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT FROM ME, FILTH? YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE MY NOBLE HOME FOR GOOD AS WELL? WELL I AM NOT LEAVING… EVER!"

Here everybody looked around, as if to see if anyone had noticed them standing there or if they had heard Mrs. Black's loud and harsh shouting. Fred and George were clearly regretting having told Harry to touch the door, as they found that being shouted at by the grime covered face of a madwoman not to their liking at all.

"WELL? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? FOOLS. FILTH. FRIENDS OF MY TRAITOROUS SON! OPEN THIS DOOR! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!"

With that, her head changed back into the snake doorknocker and the door creaked open slightly, to reveal what had just recently become Harry's House.

In the stunned silence that followed Mrs. Black's unexpected appearance and startling words, everybody had been looking around nervously around at one another, totally shocked about what had just occurred. Ron was the first person to come to his senses.

"Bloody hell! What was that all about? And why did she have to shout so darn loud?"

"That was Mrs. Black, Ronald. Surely you would know that."

"I knew quiet well who that was, thank you very much Hermione! There was no reason to be so smug about the whole thing you know. Honestly."

Hermione ignored his last remark, as she was still puzzling over how the whole incident had happened in the first place.

"Well, there must have been some type of transfiguration on the knocker if it was to change into her head." I thought aloud to myself. "But I wonder if it were a type of dark magic which allowed it to speak its mind at us like that. Or is it even dark magic at all? I know that there are some spells that can make an object speak, but none of the ones I know sounded like that just did. It would make sense that it was dark magic, just because of the type of woman she was, and doubly so because she was one of the Blacks of whom Sirius despised. But then again, it could just be a spell that I do not know yet. But anyways, I hope I can figure out what it is exactly."

"Hermione."

Lupin called my attention to himself. I felt ashamed to realize that I had not been listening to a Professor. No not a professor, but an adult. I never did that before.

"Hermione. Please do not think aloud. You may not know that you are doing so, but here it is deathly important that you do not do that."

I am so mortified. Not only was I not listening to him, I was speaking my thoughts aloud.

"By the way Hermione, that was a nice theory you had going on back then. And Harry? I believe that it is safe to open the door now. Mrs. Black is gone back to her picture I presume."

Once everyone was inside, the door was shut, replacing the bright daylight with a dim and faltering musty light. I looked up to see the source. The light was coming from a globe of what looked like liquid gray fire with silver within it. It looked like it had been enchanted in the Black Family colors to give off light, but the enchantment seemed to have been fading gradually for quite some time. I could see that because there was more gray than silver. There was also some black, but that was also fading. The few silver specks were what gave off light, I did not know what the black specks did, or why they were in there in the first place. I then noticed that painted around the globe were several evil looking snakes. They seemed to give it a sinister appearance in the flickering light.

"Hermione? Are you ok? You looked rather…"

With a start I drew my eyes away from those of the painted snake. While I had been looking at the light, I had not been able, or willing to move or look away, but Ron had broken me from my strange trance like state with the sound of my voice. Huffily I answered, annoyed that I had spaced out, unintentional or not.

"Yes Ronald! Why? Did you expect anything else? And do you have anything else to say? We really need to hurry up! We are getting behind schedule."

"But you were staring at that lamp…"

He trailed off. I was glad he did. I grimaced. I had just thought of something.

"Why did he have to have this effect on me? Yes, though we were best friends, we were always fighting or arguing over many things, many of them stupid ones. And every time we fought, he always sounded indifferent or aloof, never with a touch of compassion. And when he would find out about me writing to Victor… then he would actually fume! And call him Vicky. I believe that he would do that just to annoy me. But except for several things, Ron has never shown much emotion. But back there? I was confused. He sounded almost, almost anxious. Was he anxious about me? Or worried that he would not get home in time to play Quiddich? But why would he worry about me? I mean, its not as if he actually likes me. I know for a fact that he doesn't. Not that way anyways. He likes me as a friend, nothing more. I mean, he has always had the emotional range of a teaspoon… hasn't he? But back there, he had almost, just almost, sounded concerned, as if he did care."

I shook my head to rid myself of that thought to find that everyone was staring strangely at me.

"Did I think out loud again?"

"No. And umm Hermione?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Are you ok? I mean you seemed rather spaced out just a moment ago."

"Yes, I am actually. Thank you for caring Harry." Harry seemed relieved at my answer. "I was just thinking about something."

"All right then, Hermione."

"And Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think we could get rid of that lamp up there? It gives me the cree… no Harry! Don't look at it. Harry! Look at me!"

"What was that Hermione? Did you just say something? I could not think clearly for a moment. Do you think we should get rid of that light Moony? Or just replace the enchantment and snakes?"

"Harry?" I spoke up, having come to a reasonable conclusion to the lamp theory. "I believe that this lamp puts you into a type of trance. You are then unable to move, speak, or think for yourself until someone directs a comment at you."

After I was finished, Professor, no, Lupin spoke up.

"Harry, I am not too sure that it even needs to comes down. Yes, we could most certainly change the enchantment to your favorite color, or colors, and change the snakes to lions or phoenixes if it pleases you, but there are many different ways in which it could be put to a good cause." Here he paused. "For instance, if someone unpleasant were to make his or her way into the house, it is possible you know, then if they looked at it, the same effect would happen to them, and they would not be able to move, speak, or think clearly until you had freed them with your voice. Yes, it could be annoying if you were here alone, but as this one is old, its grim on your mind could not last for more than ten minutes at a time. And if the enchantment were changed to your colors and magic, then it would not affect you at all."

"Weird!"

"That is so strange."

Fred and George had spoken up together.

"Maybe we should create something like that for our joke shop! We do have Lee for testing it on you know." George mused, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"And Ron if it works out just right." Fred added.

Ron spoke up indignantly. "Talk for yourself Fred! I am not getting tested on!"

I just had to smother a giggle at that. As everyone knew, yes, even Mrs. Weasley, the twins joke shop was a big success. They had even been able to hire an assistant to help out. They had hired for their assistant, none other than Lee Jordan, their friend and former Hogwarts Quiddich commentator. Fred and George used Lee as a test subject almost as much as they used themselves. One week, Lee and gone around Diagon Alley with a full mane of hair. Red like the twins and, for some reason the hair was streaked with gray. Another week, they had been advertising Amazingly Fruity Gum, which changed the chewer's hair into the color of the gum for a few hours. Soon you could be seeing some drastic changes in the young people who visited Diagon Alley. Small boys would emit a glass shattering lions roar without taking a breath, and there was a rainbow of colors in their customers' hair. Why even she, Hermione, at Ginny's insistence of course, had broken her strict no gum rule and had tried a piece of Shockingly Red Raspberry, which had turned her hair a bright red which could rival the hair of the Weasley clan.

I was startled out of my thoughts by Lupin's reply to Fred and George's question.

"Boys, I am not too sure that that would be that," Fred and Georges faces fell, "That bad of an idea."

I had to laugh at the expression that had just appeared on the twins' faces. It was as if Christmas had come five months early.

"Do you mean…?"

"Yes, I actually have a copy of the actual spell that was used to enchant it. If you would like a copy of it, the Marauders would be pleased to give you one of their copies of the spell, along with several others."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I believe that the Marauders used it several times in some of their pranks. I believe that they got the idea from this very lamp, believe it or not. Please tell me how your products turn out. I may need to buy some myself, before too long."

Fred and George were grinning from ear to ear now. Their replies were all jumbled up, they were in such a hurry to get them out of their mouths.

"Of course!"

"We would love to Lupin ol' chap!"

"You can be our Senior Troublemaker in residence if you please."

"You will get all our first products!"

"We are proud to continue the honorable name of the Marauders!"


	7. What Happens in Harry's House

Harry Potter is not mine, nor will he ever be so. I you cannot get this by the seventh chapter, then I must be doing something wrong. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Seven.

What Happens in Harry's House

_This is in Hermione's point of view._

There was a stunned silence in which I did not know whither to laugh or cry. Yes, those inferable twins were like that sometimes. One moment they would be funny, cracking their jokes right and left, but then they have to go and get serious on you. And then you would not know what to do about them. This moment seems to be a mixture of the two.

"So, Hermione? Do you know what are we going to be doing today?"

Ron's voice had broken through the silence.

I glared at him.

"Why do you have to ask such stupid questions? Ronald? We are going to clean."

"Do we all have to clean? What about Harry? Does he have to clean as well?"

"Everyone has to clean Ron. And yes, even Harry has to."

Lupin looks rather weary when he said that, I thought to myself. Maybe Ron and my arguments were getting on his nerves. And Tonks had not said a single thing since we had come here, or knocked a single thing over for that matter. That was defiantly strange.

There was a collection of sighs and groans from the group, the biggest ones coming from Ron and Tonks, who both clearly did not like to clean anything if it could not be helped. Ron, in particular did not like to clean because he was underage and was not allowed to use magic, while Tonks was so clumsy, she just made a bigger mess, magic or no magic. I laughed to myself at that thought.

"But," Lupin continued, "Since we have removed most of the dangerous items, not including some of the books in the library Hermione, it should be much more fun, and easier to complete. We will just be cleaning the overall house… cleansing the house of all this filth that has been gathering up for who know how long."

"Cleaning? Fun? How the bloody hell can cleaning be fun?"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley! What would your mother say?"

"She would probably tell him to watch his bloody language," Muttered Fred.

"I heard that Fred." Ron gritted out. "And if I am not mistaken, mum has used that line plenty of times with you and George, so watch it!"

"Keep me out of it you two." George put in good-naturedly.

"But how can cleaning be fun? It never was before, and I do not think it will be now."

"Ron! Do not complain! It is not supposed to be fun."

"Why does he have to say that sort of thing? Complaining that cleaning is not fun. It is not suppose to be fun! Honestly, Ron really irritates me at time."

I kept on ranting to myself until I heard my name being called.

"Hermione."

I looked up to see Lupin looking intently at me.

"Oh! I am sorry Professor! I was not listening! I do not know what is coming over me, I am not myself today!"

"That is just fine. Now, Hermione, this cleaning might be more fun then you might realize, you know. With many of the dangerous objects gone, we should have an interesting time with some of the safer items. If you would like, you could work I the library, maybe there is a book that Harry could lend you."

Lupin then turned to Fred and George, who were staring off into space, bored by the conversation that was going on at the moment.

"You two." The twins jumped. "I believe that I may be able to find several of the Marauders products, as well as booklets of many of the spells they used for pranks. If I remember correctly, there are several copies of each of their books, somewhere in the library. I believe that they are called," here Lupin stopped to think, "Oh yes, Moony's Remedies, Padfoot's Properties of Pranks and Jokes, Prong's Guide to Amusing Concoctions, and Wormtail's Collection of Useful Spells and Potions."

"You are not kidding us, now are you Lupin?"

"For if you are…"

"We will know."

"Fred, George, of course I am not pulling your legs." Lupin spoke up with laughter in his voice to Fred and George's excited gabber.

"Its as true as the hair on your head is red."

With several more laughs, we all got se to clean. I still did not believe that cleaning could be fun. At least, not in the way Professor Lupin was speaking about. How very wrong I was. Soon after that, we were to be found cleaning some of the many rooms in the vast surroundings of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

Ron and Harry had decided to work on several of the spare bedrooms on the forth floor. I believe that they might have thought that they could find some sort of treasure hidden up there. I snorted when I thought again about their enthusiasm in going into those rooms. How could there be anything of interest up there? Meanwhile, Tonks and Proffeso—I mean Lupin are somewhere in on the second floor, supposedly cleaning. But knowing Tonks, they might as well be doing something more time worthy, as she was so terrible with the household spells. I knew that they were having problems with this because occasionally, her voice could be heard voicing some very colorful language, which made me cringe, and the twins, who were helping Ginny and I, glow with a mild sense of pride.

"Ginny? Could you hand me those books over there?" I asked suddenly.

As we were working in the library, Ginny and I had been organizing some of the books, with the twins cleaning several of them with magic. (It could not be done any other way, and besides, they were legally considered adults, although they rarely acted that way.)

I had just taken the small pile of old and musty books, all on a complex form of blood magic and bonding from Ginny when something nearly made me drop them, in spite of myself.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Ron's terrified scream burst through the sudden silent house. And he kept on yelling…

"Almost like a girl would," I mused to myself, before setting down the books on one of the tables near me, and turning to Ginny.

"I wonder what is going on with him."

To Ginny's bemused look, I asked another question.

"Does Ron always scream like that?"

Still a bit bemused, Ginny answered.

"He has not screamed like that in a very long time. He only does that when he sees something terrifying… like a spider or an imaginary monster."

"Well, lets go find out what is scaring our little Ronniekins now."

Fred and George were grinning madly, clearly plotting something drastic.

"Well…" I mused, "I also would love to see what is making him scream like that. But, you two, nothing too nasty, ok?"

"We would not dream of doing that Hermione," Was the twins' reply. They sounded like their birthday had come early.

Well, lets just go and find out.

What we found totally surprised us all.

Ron was holding and staring transfixed at what looked to be a very dusty crystal orb, apparently terrified by what he saw.


	8. Of Monsters and other Strange Things

It is the summer after fifth year and Harry is totally depressed. Will anything (or anyone) show him that Dreams really DO come true? Ron and Hermione later on. The trio and Ginny find out some interesting things about themselves, and they start to find out what some of their abilities actually are. We find out what exactly Ron saw in that crystal orb. (Not a crystal ball)

A/n Harry Potter and co. are not mine, and never will be. They all belong to the wonderfully creative and imaginative mind of J.K. Rowling. Only the group's unusual findings in Grimmauld Place are mine, along with the even stranger plot line.

A/n I have been having some difficulty writing from Harry's point of view, it may seem a bit strange.

**Chapter Eight**

Of Monsters and other Strange Things

_This chapter is mostly how Harry sees it._

Harry had just found himself thinking about Sirius yet again, when he suddenly noticed that Ron had become deathly quiet.

"Ron? Are you ok?"

When Ron did not answer, but suddenly began to scream, Harry really did not now what to make of him.

"Ron has not acted anything like this since he last meet up with a big spider… in second year with the fake professor Moody." Harry mused to himself. "But even then, he had never actually screamed, and defiantly not like this."

"Ron! What is it?"

Ron's answer came in between gulps of air.

"Huge… Spider! Its…" he gulped… "Awful! Make it… go away!"

"A spider? In that thing? Yes? But is that not made out of stone?"

Ron nodded dumbly and then looked up and gulped.

"What is wrong?"

"Look behind you Harry."

I did and saw Tonks, Fred and George, Hermione, Ginny and moony standing in the doorway and openly staring at the scene we made inside it.

"What was that about, little bro?"

George was looking intently at Ron."

"A spider. Huge one. It is inside this crystal ball. Look at it yourself."

"Bloody hell! What is that thing?"

George had gone over to Ron to see the spider, but he had apparently seen something different.

"It is a spider, George."

"No it is not!"

"I see it too, and it is NOT a spider ickle Ronniekins."

"But what is it…? It looks like a cross between a duck and the beaver that is in the pond by the burrow. It is like someone's bad idea of a joke, if you ask me."

"I believe that that sounds like a platypus, if I am correct."

Hermione had spoken up at last.

"A platy-what? What is that?"

"It is a mammal who swims and lays eggs. And no, it that is its natural shape, as it is not some type of joke."

I looked up to see Moony staring intently first at the twins and then at the crystal ball in their hands.

"Ah, I see that you have found several of the marauders tricks. That orb, if I am not mistaken, is an example of an excellent bit of magic of you father's, Harry. That orb shows a person what their anamagus form would be. So, Ron, your would be a spider, I presume?"

Here Ron gulped audibly.

Suddenly I heard a soft snigger, coming from the direction of Tonks. When I turned around, though, the noise was gone, and Tonks had a remarkably strait face on, though the face she had on was anything but strait.

She looked different today, I realized. She had a small nose and many freckles, and long, red hair. She could pass for Ginny's older sister, if there were one.

After a moments pause, Moony spoke up again.

"Harry? Hermione? Ginny? Would you like to see what your forms are?"

Shakily Hermione stepped forward, taking the crystal orb from the twins' grasps. She looked deep into the center of the crystal ball clasped firmly in her hands. Her eyes widened, and she gave a small gasp.

"What is it?" Tonks asked.

"It is a fox! It is so… I mean to say… I love it… my form is so… is so… I mean to say… foxes are smart, are they not?"

Unable to complete a single coherent sentence, which was very unlike herself Hermione simply handed the orb over to Ginny who then spoke up.

So you like your form Hermione? Was it what you expected it to be? I thought that yours would surely by a cat, or a kneezle like Crookshanks is. Oh but no one has been a magical creature since Godric Gryffindor. I wonder what mine is—oh!

"What is it Ginny?"

Ron had spoken up at last; though he was still clearly troubled by the shape his animagus form had taken.

"It is so… I mean… it is a lion! A girl lion!"

"Well if that does that not fit our little Ginnykins to a whisker, then I am not a Weasley."

"That is because she has the temper to match one equally."

"Our Ginny, the lioness."

"All hail, Ginny queen of the cats."

"Leave me alone Fred! And you too George! That was not nice!

"Stop tormenting her you two, ok?"

Something happened deep inside of me during Fred and George's unmerciful teasing of Ginny. I did not know what it could be. The last time anything like that had happened had been last year, at the end of term when I had been talking to Luna. Did that mean that I pitied Ginny? I did not think so but then again, anything was possible. There it was again. It was if something was unlocked within my chest. I felt it give a small jolt within me, and then the queer feeling vanished. I did not notice it again.

"So, Harry." George was grinning at me. "Lets see what your shape is."

"Yes, lets." Agreed Fred. "I wonder what it could be?"

"Maybe his is a crunchy-horned whatsit.

You mean a Crumple-horned sno—?

Yes, of course that is what I meant by that Hermione! Now Harry, hurry up and look. We are all dieing to find out.

I slowly walked over to Ginny, who reached out her hand trying to hand the crystal orb to me. I reached out my hands to take it from her, but unfortunately, my feet had other plans. I tripped and lurched forwards and unconsciously grabbed what I could find to steady myself so I would not fall into her. But I found that I had grabbed hold of her arms, with the crystal orb between us.

"Why am I blushing?" I was thinking franticly. "I never blush!"

but something had happened. For when I had made contact with her arm, a spark of what seemed to be pure magic passed between us. I knew I felt it, and taking the expression on Ginny's face she had felt it as well. I looked from my hands holding her in my tight grasp, to her shaking hands, which were holding the crystal orb, to the startled expressions I was receiving from everyone else in the room, and gulped.

Quickly, I took my hands off her arms, still blushing to my condemnation, and said a very flustered—"Sorry Ginny! I did not mean to do that, I hope I did not hurt you."

When I saw the perplexed expression on her face, I took the ball from her outstretched hands and stared deeply into the center.

What I would see would later become a turning point in the war against Voldemort A turning point that would eventually turn the tide in our favor.

"Fawkes?"


	9. Phoenix Reborn

A/n Harry Potter is not mine. Sigh and he never will be. He is the brilliant product of J.K. Rowling's genus of a mind.

A/n The Crystal Orb in these chapters was in the beginning, a crystal ball, which the Marauders "took" from the Divination Classroom when they were in school so they could bewitch it to suit their needs at will.

**Chapter Nine**

Phoenix Reborn

There was a moment of silence. Then the room erupted with a burst of noise.

"You mean to say that you are a fox too?" Squealed Hermione.

"Umm, no, actually I am not a fox."

"But did you not say that?"

"No! I mean, no, I said Fawkes. You know Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix. Fawkes is inside this ball. I wonder how he does it…?"

"You mean to say…

"What? You mean your form is that of a… it is a phoenix? "

"But that just cannot be right!"

"But… but no one has ever had the form of a magical creature. At least not since Godric Gryffindor had the form of a Griffin! There must be something wrong with that thing!"

"Hermione, this ball never lies. It showed Harry's dad as Prongs, it showed Sirius as the black dog we all know… knew so well. And Peter… yes, it even showed Peter as the rat he truly was. I never really got over that if truth were told. Too bad we did not realize it sooner." Moony sighed deeply before continuing. "Yes, Harry's animagus form is that of a phoenix. And we really need to go and see Dumbledore before it is too late."

"Why? Why could something go wrong?"

"Yes." Moony somberly replied. "Everything can, and will go wrong if the wrong person or persons find out about this too soon. And that is why we need to speak to Dumbledore… before the deatheaters find out, and take that bit of significant information to Voldemort. I am sure that he would find this bit of information… quite interesting."

It was because of this that Lupin left shortly to get news of the days events to Dumbledore. And soon after that, professors Lupin and Dumbledore were making plans for the upcoming school year. Neither noticed the slim form of Harry Potter leaving the enclosed surroundings of the stuffy room for the cool breeze outside.

And it was because of all that, that Ginny found herself sitting outside in the enlarged backyard of Number twelve Grimmauld Place, while Professor Lupin and Professor Dumbledore were having furious conversation in the sitting room in the second floor. Ginny sighed to herself. How she wished she had one of her brothers' extendable ears, but they had gone back to their joke shop. And as Ginny was sitting miserably by a little brook, when someone else come up behind her, and sat down she did not notice.

At a slight movement behind me, I perked up slightly.

"Ron? Is that you? You can come out, I know you are back there."

No answer.

"This is not funny Ron."

A quiet voice answered my impatient question.

"I am not Ron."

"Harry? But, I thought that surly you would be inside with Dumbledore and…" I trailed off.

"You thought that they would include me in their discussion? Well they did tell me that there would be a class on becoming animagi, for fifth years and up which would include the four of us. Only a few others who will be chosen later will be able to get in as well. I think it was something about having the strength or the stamina to transform, or something like that."

Here Harry gave a weary sigh and fell silent again.

We sat in silence for what seemed like forever.

Just as I was about to pick up my courage and speak again, Harry spoke up.

"How do you do it? With Sirius being gone and everything?"

I was puzzled. The great Harry Potter wanted my input about something Important… wait a moment! When exactly had he become the great Harry Potter again? And what about Dean? I mean we were dating, were we not? Of course, we had never been on a proper date… but all the same.

"It comes and goes. One moment you may feel happy, but then in the blink of an eye, it could feel like nothing is ever going to be better. That happened a lot to me during my first year when I had been writing in my diary, Tom's diary…"

I stopped suddenly. I had never talked about it. I had been trying to get over that ever since it had happened.

"I am over that. I have been over that for over three years."

I thought this rather franticly to myself, all a long conveniently forgetting the fact that I still, even now would wake up in a middle of an unpleasant memory… a horrid dream.

"How did you get over all that Ginny? I mean, he was far from kind. I remember many things that he spoke to me about you… terrible things."

I looked up. I had not realized that he had heard all that from the ghostly image of Tom Riddle.

"What did he say? Did you believe it?"

Harry was staring off into space when he answered.

"He told me that the sky was green and the grass was blue."

I waited for him to say something else. When he did not, I went to thinking. Did what he said mean that he did not believe what Tom had told him about me? About all the cruel things he had made me do when I was a trusting eleven year old? Had Harry not believed anything of what he had been told about me during his second year, and my first? I needed to find out, and find out soon.

"So you did not believe what he had told you…?"

"Not a word."

"Thank you Harry. That really meant a lot to me, you know."

"Yeah." Harry went silent before adding something else.

"I know what it feels like to be possessed, unfortunately. It must have been terrible to be possessed for long periods at a time. Even I could not stand being possessed for even a couple of minutes."

I looked up.

"When were you possessed? I mean…" I trailed off.

"Last June, when we were at the Ministry of Magic. After Dumbledore dueled him by the fountain. Then he left… taking that… that evil woman with him. She killed Sirius."

"Sorry for bringing that up Harry."

"No, that is all right."

There was silence for a while. Then Harry spoke up, his voice full of grief.

"Why did that all have to happen? I should have known that the vision he sent me would be a fake. And then he would not have died. And it was all because of me."

"No it was not!"

"And I even got you hurt. You broke your ankle. And those brains attacked Ron. Hermione got cursed really badly. Neville got his wand and nose broken… all because of me. All because I just had to go play the hero and… and rescue everyone when they never needed rescuing."

Harry was speaking bitterly at the end.

"No Harry! That is not true!"

"We wanted to come with you. You did not force us to come along with yourself. And If I had been in your place I probably would have done the same thing."

"It was still my fault that all that happened Ginny."

"No it was not! It was Kreacher fault. It was Tom's fault. The horrible woman's fault! But not your fault Harry."

Quietly I added something more. "It is never your fault when he does this to you, Harry, never your fault."

Harry simply sighed.

"But Harry Tom will have to die sometime. I mean, with all the aurors after him, he will surly be killed sooner or later. So do not worry about that. Everything will come out all right, and then you can live normally."

"I never will be normal. I want to be normal, but it just will not happen. You do not understand this… no one can."

"But… but… I can if I am told what is going on. Then maybe I can be of some use. Maybe I could be the one who gets rid of Tom. After what he has done…"

"No!"

"What Harry?"

"I mean no. I am sorry, but no one will be able to get rid of Voldemort that easily. Not you, or any of the aurors out there."

Then quietly, so I almost could not hear him, he added something more. Something, which made my blood run cold.

"No one can kill him but me. There is no other way."

"But Harry! Surly there must be another way! Surly someone else can do that. Why you? Has he not caused enough problems for you? Has he not caused you enough grief?"

Harry buried his face in his hands and gave a dried sob.

My heart squeezed at the sight of him. I just wanted to put my arms around him and reassure him that every thing was going to be all right. Without thinking about the origins of that thought I crawled over to where he sat. I noticed that his shoulders were shaking, but still he did not cry. I do not think that I have ever seen him do so. Not in the years in which I knew him.

Sitting up straight again, Harry looked at me with his pain filled eyes. He then said something which I had least expected. He said something, which would give me a bigger cause to despise the Dursleys more than ever before. He apologized for crying, although he had never actually shed a single tear.

"Sorry. I should not cry but I cannot help it sometimes. Please do not tell Ron about this. Ok?"

"Harry it is alright to cry sometimes. It is a way of expressing your grief where words cannot work. Did the Dursleys not allow you to do that?"

Harry nodded dumbly. Suddenly he gave a shuddering sob, and the next thing I knew, he was in my arms. I was startled at first, before wrapping my arms around him. I tried to transfer every bit of comfort to him, which I could come up with. I wanted him to know how much he was truly loved.

We were like that for several minutes, when Harry suddenly pulled away.

Startled, I looked up. I was stunned to see the beginnings of a smile on his face. Then Harry spoke up.

Thank you Ginny. Now I need to tell you something. I have been putting it off for a long time. I think I am ready to talk about it now.


	10. Truths Revealed

Harry Potter is not mine. He is a creation of the richly imaginative mind of JK Rowling. And As I am not she… sigh… thus none of her creations are mine either. But please do enjoy my story.   
Chapter Ten 

Truths Revealed

"I want to tell you about the prophecy."

I looked up, startled.

"But Neville said that it had broken! So then how can you know what it said?"

"That was only the copy of the real thing. It was just the record."

"Oh."

"Guess who gave it."

"Who?"

Harry gave a hollow laugh before answering.

"It was Professor Trelawney."

At my questioning look, Harry explained. I soon found out quite a lot more than I had ever really wanted to know.

"When Professor Dumbledore was looking for a Divination Professor seventeen years ago. They had had an appointment at the Hog's Head; you know where we had the first DA meeting. Well at the end of the meeting, she, I mean Professor Trelawney made this prophecy in Dumbledore's presence. Dumbledore keeps his own copy of the prophecy, inside of his pensive. That is why it was never truly lost."

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have trice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"

"Oh Harry…"

I felt really bad. We all should have felt like that ages ago. Really, for letting him deal with that all on his own, without the comfort, which a friend could, have given him.

"It is nothing... at least it is not now…"

"Of course it has to mean something! Why did you not come to any of us about this sooner, Harry? Then you could have gotten that off you back much earlier than you actually did."

"Thanks Gin."

I looked up. Harry had never called me that before. I had always been telling people off for calling me that but now? For some reason, Harry calling me Gin did not feel like the insult it usually was. It felt almost like… almost like a complement. I shivered at the thought of it. I had not thought that I shivered as much as I had, but suddenly, I felt Harry slip something over my shoulders. Startled I looked up to see his cloak rapped around me.

"Thank you, Harry."

"No, thank you, Ginny."

At my puzzled look, Harry answered.

"I had not been able to talk about this to anyone. You were able to open me up. You were the first person I told about the prophecy."

"You mean to say that you never even told you friends?"

"Well I told you, didn't I?"

"You mean I am one of your friends? I thought that only my annoying brother and Hermione were…"

"They were, until last year, Gin. Now, Neville and you, and even Luna are my friends. After what we went through together, what else would we be?"

"Thank you. That was nice of you."

"Oh?"

"It was!"

We fell silent again. I found a twig and was twirling it between my fingers. Leaning my head back, I sighed. This could not get better than it already was. It would not get any better. I tossed my twig into the small stream in front of me. Lazily I followed its movement as it twirled around in the small currents that made up the flow of the bitter cold water. I almost felt like it, now and then. I float on down my life, sometimes getting caught on sharp edges, or by protruding dangers. My life seemed like that, just like the twigs. I stood up. I felt my hair move in the breeze. The cool scent of the small wood nearby came wafting over to me. The smells were of many different types of trees, several of which I did not believe should be able to grow here. I could have sworn that I smelled lemon, and cinnamon. I love cinnamon, with its spicy smell and taste. Their scents were weaving together to create a vast blanket of sensory delight.

Suddenly I noticed that Harry was standing near me, with a strange look on his face. This was a look, of which I had never seen before. I ignored it. Then, he was standing by my side.

I looked closely into his face. Into his wide green eyes behind his black wire framed glasses. There seemed to be a hidden message of significance deep within his eyes… a message, which I could not, or would not be able to decipher, not even if I tried. I looked away from those deep pools of brilliant green… my favorite color. I was unnerved. He made me feel shaky all over. I did not know what to make of it.

"Gin?"

"Yes, Harr…"

But before I could finish answering him, I found myself in his warm embrace. He had never really touched me like this. He had never hugged me, let alone him touching me when he did not need to do so. My breath caught in my throat. When I was younger I had dreamed about this happening… dreamed about his arms around myself. For years, that was what I had always wanted…but now, but now, for some reason, there was a bit of regret in me as well. I did not know why… I could not remember…

Suddenly, I felt Harry push me away from him.

"No…"

"What is it?"

There was a stricken expression on his face.

"No… I can't."

"Why?"

"I just can't."

With that he was gone. Gone back into the house. The gloom filled house.

"What have I done?" I puzzled to myself. "What have I done to make him run off like tha… Oh, Darn! Darn. Darn. Darn!"

Dean. I am going out with Dean.

"Harry will always be my friend… but I like Dean, plain and simple."

"But he is not Harry, now is he…" A little voice had spoken up in my mind. "You have always liked Harry."

"But I like Dean now!" I protested to myself, although it seemed to be a lost cause. "Not Harry. All right?"

I plopped back down again. And sighed. Now what would I have to do?

Harry had said that I was his friend. Good. He is my friend. Not my boyfriend… because that is what Dean is. I know we had never actually gone on a real date, but we had been owling quite a bit. That reminds me. I need to reply to his letter. I have been putting it off for a couple of days. And I really need to get myself a cloak.

Without another thought about what had just happened, I headed back to the stuffy atmosphere of Number twelve Grimmauld Place.


	11. Of Birthday Dreams and Visions

It is the day of Harry's birthday. What will happen on this day? And how exactly will Harry deal with some of the extremely unusual gifts, which he receives on this equally unusual day?

Authors Note—Harry Potter is not mine, unfortunate as it may sound, in any way, shape or form. I am just a normal (At least I think I am) teenage girl who is totally obsessed with the creations of the wonderfully creative and imaginative mind of JK Rowling.

Chapter Eleven.

Of Birthday Dreams and Visions

He was flying somewhere, on what seemed to be a giant black motorcycle. He soared through the clouds above a wide, crystal clear, blue ocean. Harry dived down suddenly, weaving through the clouds, wind wiping his face and blowing his hair all around. Suddenly the motorcycle came through to a clearing in the clouds. As the clouds were clearing, Harry noticed that there were figures down below him. And, he noticed, many of them seemed to have red hair. 

Soaring down through the blue sky, Harry's mood was lightening at every moment. As he got closer, he began to notice several of the faces. There was Sirius, looking as cheerful and as happy, as he had looked in the picture of Harry's parents wedding. And there, standing arm in arm were none other than Harry's parents themselves. They were looking up at him and waving, saying numerous things to each other, things of which Harry could not hear anything at all. There were also many others chatting and looking up at him. They lounged on the sandy beaches, swimming in the cold clear waters, or picnicking on the emerald green grass sandwiched between an abundant numbers of palm trees.

But all of a sudden, about fifteen meters above the land Harry suddenly ran upon some type of resistance in the air, which caused him to stop suddenly in his decent down to the sandy beach below. It was as if there was a translucent barrier surrounding this mysterious island. Harry bent forward to feel the resistance, and found that it was as unyielding as a wall; only it was clear and most definately separating Harry from the group of people down on the isle. Harry leaned forward a little bit further, trying to find out if the barrier took up much more than he had first thought, when he suddenly found himself falling… down. Harry looked back towards the motorcycle… only to find that it was not a motorcycle at all… but a dementor. Harry gasped for air, as he was suddenly out of breath, as the cold, cold air became suddenly colder…

Harry unexpectedly found himself suspended in mid air. Looking down, he saw the reason. Death Eaters. They appeared suddenly into the lush island paradise. They had invaded his dream just as the dementor had done, and was still doing. Silently they pointed their long wands at each of the people inside his dream. And silently Sirius and every member of the family he never knew, collapsed into the murderous green vines, which had just appeared along the horizon of his vision. Then there were no more islands, and the ocean was no longer blue, but red. And over the remains of the island, scarlet words were being formed in his vision. These words that spelled out the same message, which was being spoken by an all too familiar voice, a hard, cold, and cruel voice, inside of his head. **"Happy Birthday Harry Potter."**

In the dark room of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, which was his, Harry Potter woke up with a start.

"What was that about?"

Harry wondered out loud. He felt chilled by the vision he had just seen while he was asleep, as well as by the cold room. Looking towards the fireplace, Harry saw the reason for one of the two chilling factors on his mind at the moment. There was no fire; it had probably gone out sometime during the night. Almost for a second, Harry wondered why this house could not have a proper house elf, but then he thought better of that thought. Harry was glad that there finally was no longer a house elf in Grimmauld Place.

Harry chuckled to himself. He remembered the look on Fred's face when he had found Kreacher dead in his little cubby under the boiler. Whither he had just died from old age, or was given an order by the portrait of that hideous Mrs. Black, no one knew, or wanted to know for that matter.

Harry was thrown out of his present thoughts by some loud and insistent pounding on the closed door of his bedchamber.

"Happy birthday Harry!"

"Are you up yet?"

"Come on out Harry! Mum has a huge birthday breakfast waiting downstairs for you."

Without much of an answer, Harry got dressed and headed downstairs. What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Happy birthday Harry!"

What seemed like the entire Order of the Phoenix was crowded into the kitchen of number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

"What the… why are you guys all here?"

Tonks spoke up first.

"For your birthday of course! I would not have missed it for the world."

"Aww, you just came because your sweet Remmie would be here."

Harry stared long and hard at Tonks, and then over to the slightly blushing form of his godfather. Harry had never heard him being called anything like that before. When he looked back to Tonks, she had changed her appearance again to hide the bright red blush that was slowly creeping up along her neck and face.

"Of course I did not come because of that… that is just an added…" Here she paused, trying to think up the right thing to say. "That is just an added bonus for me, with my coming to Harry's birthday breakfast and all."

Harry stared incredulously at Tonks. So she found the fact that Moony was staying at Grimmauld Place, as an additional benefit to her coming to his birthday breakfast, did she. That seemed a bit silly. This day was just getting stranger and stranger as it was coming along.

After an extraordinary breakfast of all of his favorite foods, Harry did not know how the day could possibly get better. Although his dream was still on his mind quite a bit, he had not had time to inform Dumbledore about it.

Harry was taken out of his deep thoughts by Ron.

"Hey Harry! You should start opening your presents now!"

Startled, Harry looked up to see that there was a massive pile of presents on the kitchen, where the breakfast had been just a bit earlier.

"Wow. That is a lot! Guys, you did not have to do this you know…"

"We knew that Harry. But we really wanted to do it you know."

"Thanks!"

Without another word, presents were handed, or shoved into his hands from the cheerful crowd in front of him.

It seemed to Harry that the presents would never end. It was like the type of party that Dudley would get every year, except for the fact that many of the presents were of a much stranger and magical nature.

From Fred and George, Harry received a collection of their newest joke products. From Tonks, came an emerald green wand carrier, which matched his eyes as she so put it, and he never should be able to blow away a buttock if he used it, even if he had wanted to. From Professor McGonagall, came his broomstick, much to everyone's delight, along with a "You will be needing this next year if you are going to be the Gryffindor seeker."

From Moony and Mad-Eye Moody, came a collection of books on defense, which Harry thought could come in as useful if the DA was continued in the following year. From Ron, came a packet of chocolate frogs, which Harry opened and offered a few back to him, which Ron gratefully accepted. From Ginny, came several of the newest products of which Fred and George had just come up upon, such as spell loaded wands, and a set of rings which made an image of the wearer of the first, where the other was placed. Harry thanked her profoundly, glad that she had not taken his strange behavior against him from several weeks before. An event of which even he could not grasp fully. There were also many other presents that morning, but the strangest of all came when all the others were opened.

A single, bulky package was standing by his chair. As Harry opened the brown packaging paper, gasps were to be heard fro around the room.

Hermione's voice could be heard above the chatter.

Harry? Is that what I think it is? I mean, they are quite rare!"

Standing on the floor in front of Harry, was a Pensive.


	12. The Strangest of Strange

Chapter Twelve

The Strangest of Strange

"A Pensive?"

"Wow!"

"That is so amazing, Harry!"

"Absolutely spiffing!"

"I wonder how it works."

"Hermione, I think that I could ask Dumbledore, what do you think?"

"That is a very good idea, Harry, why don't you ask me?"

The room fell silent. For there, standing in the entrance of the room, was none other than the Headmaster himself… Albus Dumbledore.

"Do you know who sent this to me, sir?"

"You are looking at him, Harry."

"You mean, to say, that you gave me this? You should not have… I mean, thank you professor."

Albus Dumbledore did not say anything during this outburst; he simply waited for it to subside, before speaking up again, a twinkle in his eyes.

Yes, Harry, I did, indeed give you that pensive. And do not worry Hermione, it was a spare that I have had around my rooms of accommodation for about, ah, let me see, for about fifty years or so."

"Yes professor. When do you want me to see you? I need to tell you about something important that happened early this morning. I think that it is important, and very strange.

"What is it, Harry?"

"I had another vision."

"Then I must see you at once. I was afraid that this would happen again. If this does not go unchecked, then something truly dreadful could happen, whether it would happen today or tomorrow, or any other time Tom Riddle, known as Voldemort, decides to use his newfound ability against us. Harry, I believe that Voldemort implanted that vision, as you called it, into your mind, whatever it might actually be. I also believe that this pensive might be of use in more ways than one. I have found it useful for getting some of the harder things of my shoulders with the help of mine. I am sure that you could have that same use. There are certain things that you may know, that we all may know, which could become crucially important in the war against Voldemort. Several of those things, he may already know about, but there are several others of which I do not want him to know about quite yet. For your sake as well as that of the entire wizarding world. And Molly? Arthur? Could you notify the order members? I believe that we may need to have an emergency meeting. Again."

An hour later, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione could be found sitting in a small room in the second floor of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

"Who is up for a game of Wizarding Chess? Anyone? Oh, Come on, It is fun."

"Oh, all right, Ron, but just give me a chance at winning, ok? It is not as if I am good enough to beat you as it already is."

"You are on Harry, but I will not be that easy on you, you have had, what, six years of experience against me. Some of it should have rubbed of by now, right Ginny?"

"Yes, of course Ron. But I bet he never beat you, though. Even I cannot beat you, and I am good at chess! Let Harry have some fun playing against you, ok?"

Ron did not answer, but simply started setting op his chessboard.

"Here, you can use Percy's set. He never was that good at chess. He gave it to me third year. They will not take orders from me. I do not know why, but they do not. We are… were in the same family."

"You still are Ronald!" Hermione broke in hotly, "Just because someone does not believe in the same things, does not mean that you can forget that they were ever in your family!"

"But he left the family first!"

"That does not matter Ronald! Let me tell you something! And you too Ginny. I am absolutely positive that Percy will come back to your family. And I would almost be willing to bet on the chances that he would come back before Christmas! So there!"

"Wow, Hermione! You have not sounded like this in a long time? And since when did you stand up for Percy? I mean he is an inferable know-it-all."

That was the wrong thing for Ron to have said.

A horrified expression came upon his face, as he realized that fact. He had just called Percy an inferable know-it-all, just like he had called Hermione one once, back in their first year.

At Ron's remark, the room became deathly silent. Why had Ron used that exact phrase in describing Percy? Everyone knew that Hermione hated to have it used against anyone, no matter if they really were what they had just been called.

Harry and Ginny looked between Ron and Hermione, half expecting one of them to blow a fuse, and also glad that they had not called Percy a know-it-all, even if he actually was one. But nothing happened. Hermione simple pursed her lips, in a fashion so like professor McGonagall that everyone else in the murky room sat up straighter before remembering that their head of Gryffindor house was not in the vacancy.

As both Ron and Ginny gave a sigh of relief, a small giggle was heard just outside the room's door. When the occupants of the room looked to see who or what had caused that, everyone was surprised to see a little old man who looked as if he could never in his life have given off such a noise.

"Who is that?"

"I don't know... maybe he is a new member of the... well you know, of the order."

But suddenly, Harry realized something… he knew this person. How he knew it, he did not know, but… suddenly he realized it. He stared intently at the old man, who in turn gave a small, but subtle wink. Suddenly, Harry realized who it was.

"T—Tonks? What are you doing here? And—and looking like that! I mean it certainly does not do anything for your appearance, that's for sure!"

With a small exclamation of disgust the old man scrunched up his face, as a familiar face once more graced the room. "Darn it! Harry! How did you know that that old man was I? I thought that I had this disguise down to perfection this time!"

"Well," Harry laughed out, "How many scrawny old men giggle like you just did? Has Dumbledore ever made such a sound, do you think?"

"Well, no, actually Dumbledore has not really giggled… at least not in a very long time that is."

"Yuck! Why would Dumbledore giggle? That would be so weird! And disgusting!"

"Oh, cut it out Ronald! It does not matter whether Professor Dumbledore has ever done such a thing in his life. It should not concern us if we did. Honestly!"

"But, Hermione, don't you think that the fact that professor Dumbledore even used to giggle a bit… well a bit strange?"

"Well…"

"Because, Mione, I do find it an insult to my… to my pride that he would have done any such thing…"

"How can it be an insult to you, Ronald? I have heard you make several un-manly sounds in my time with you."

"But Mione…"

" Watch me. For instance I heard you make a sound, which could be an insult to your manly pride. It was with that boggart back in third year. Back when that happened and you sounded a lot like a…"

"Stop it Mione! Don't you finish what you are saying just now! Or I'll…"

"Or you'll what, Ronald? Scream at me?"

By now, Ron and Hermione were so into their bickering that they did not notice Tonks leaving the room. And they were so worked up that they did not notice the new figure entering, until…

"Hem, Hem."

The room fell silent, as Ron and Hermione had stopped their bickering, very suddenly. Slowly, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny—who had been quiet through Hermione and Ron's' bickering—turned around. What, or rather, whom they saw, made the room all the quieter. They all jumped, fore there, standing in the doorway, was none other then the infamous Defense against the Dark Arts teacher from the previous year… Delores Jane Umbridge. Standing there, in person, in the middle of the doorway of the room they were in.

"Is that really who I think it is, Mione?" came the hushed whisper somewhere in the room. "Because I was so sure that she was still at St. Mungo's." Ron paused. "You know, because of the centaurs… Hermione? Are you listening to me? Hermione?"

Hermione did not answer Ron. She was, instead, staring shell-shocked at the figure in the doorway—unable to mutter a coherent word or phrase. Mutely, she opened and shut her mouth like a beached whale, while Ron and Ginny both looked on in shock, and Harry, in amusement. Hermione had rarely been at a loss for words since they had all known her. Harry had somewhat expected this reaction, for he knew why she would be so shocked. And also why Professor Umbridge was apparently standing in the doorway, with a smirk on her face.

Suddenly, Hermione seemed to come to her senses. She jerked her gaze away from her former teacher, and looked back and forth between Ron and Harry, puzzled t first by the seemingly opposite expressions on both of her best friends' faces.

"Harry? What in Merlin's name is she doing here? Did she join the order or something? I mean, surely…" she trailed off.

There was silence. And then, Harry, much to Hermione's surprise, broke into a wide grin, and then burst out laughing for the first time in a very long time.

"Mione… Ron don't you see? Well, you don't? While you two were bickering, Tonks left the room, and well, she morphed again. She wanted to see what type of reaction you would give, and whither you two would notice the change of her appearance!"

"Harry? Whose idea was it, for Tonks to impersonate that—that old git?"

"Well, Ginny," Harry replied breathlessly, "I guess that I am the git, the guilty one, this time around."

Suddenly, Harry caught Ginny's eye. For a couple of moments they were locked together by their eyes—chocolate brown and emerald green—with neither being able to more, from lack of motivation. Suddenly Harry felt his stomach give a lurch. For no reason whatsoever he suddenly did not feel all that happy anymore. Ginny looked away, as if sensing his gloomy feelings.

With the spell of sorts broken between the two of them Harry turned away, his smile quickly dropping away from his face once more. It was going to be a long evening after all, and Harry was not too sure that he could get through it in one piece.

If Harry had thought that his sixteenth birthday would be boring, then he would have been totally wrong. But, of course, his birthdays had never been what the average person would consider normal. Growing up with a family of the foulest muggles mankind could send his way, never receiving a proper present until he came to Hogwarts, would that be considered normal?


	13. Cauldron of Emotion

Harry is still depressed, Hermione and Ron still live to bicker, and Ginny and Dean are still together—or are they? Ginny gets an important letter along the way to Hogwarts, which may turn things around for her, if she has the courage to speak up about how she feels, and if she figures out, how she feels. But will she even do it? Not yet unfortunately.

Chapter Thirteen.

Cauldron of Emotion

_Ginny's point of view_

The carriage bumped and jiggled around as we traveled, making me sick of the motion. Why did we have to travel this way? Why could we not just use a portkey or some other magical kind of transportation? And another thing, had it really been just under a week since Harry's birthday? And just under a week until my own? I had hardly seen him at all. And now, we were all headed back to Hogwarts, for a reason only Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Order know about.

And to make things worse for me, none of then would tell me why we were leaving Number Twelve Grimmauld Place so soon. Not that I was complaining, mind you. You could get the foulest temper, just by looking at that place for Merlin's sake, not to say what you will get living there day after day, week after week. And that ghastly portrait of that horrid Mrs. Black!

I shuddered. That was one part of Grimmauld Place that I was glad to be leaving. Actually, I would not miss it at all. Well, maybe I would miss some aspects of the house. Well, actually the only part of Grimmauld place that I actually would miss, was that brook in the enchanted back area, where I had spent so many hours with Sirius last year, and where I had spent much of my time pouring out to him my emotions about a certain black haired boy who had had a special place in both of our hearts, but who now had to find his special spot only in my heart—Harr— No!

I stopped myself, stunned at the direction that my thoughts were headed. Surly I could not still care for him in that way, now that I had a boyfriend, now, could I? Could I? I was very puzzled. My thoughts, and eyes for that matter, kept on straying to the sleeping form in the corner of the carriage. For in the corner, of the carriage—lay the sleeping form of Harry Potter. And that confused me… a lot. And not for the first time in my life either, mind you.

And anyways, I had sworn to myself to get over my childish crush on him a long time ago. Besides, it is not as if he would fancy me… now would it?

Unbidden, the memory of a warm day passed through my mind. And Harry had seemed so happy then… at least until he had shared with me the prophecy… which said that he had to get rid of Voldemort— or Tom as I called him—by himself, if—and always if—Voldemort, Tom, were to be brought down from his self made powerhouse.

My thoughts fell silent again. Thankfully. I would simply die from embarrassment if any of my brothers—especially Ron—were to find out about my strange dilemma. Well maybe I would not mind if Bill knew. He would understand, I am sure about that.

"What's the matter, Ginny?" I started and looked up from my journal, not diary, I could never write in one of those after my first year. I had been pretending to write in it, my quill held limp in my hand. Well anyways, I looked up to find a bleary eyed Ron looking at me with a queer expression on his face.

"Noth—nothing, Ron." I answered as carelessly as I could muster. He looked at me, unbelieving.

My brother had been acting very oddly for the past couple of weeks, ever since Harry's unnecessary apology in the library of Grimmauld Place. He would glance at me at the strangest of times, and if I were paying attention, he would practically gesture in Harry's direction. Of course, this strange behavior never happened when Harry was not in the room at the same time, or when he was paying attention to what was happening around him—which was not that often anymore.

And speaking of Harry… he is waking up now.

Ron glanced between Harry and me, cautiously, before jerking his head in Harry's direction and mouthing to me a message.

"I'll talk to you about him later."

I sighed. "Here it goes again," I muttered to myself under my breath, "The protective older brother strikes yet again."

I looked at Ron, expectedly only to see something strange. It seemed as if he had forgotten that either Harry or me were in the carriage with him. He was staring almost longingly at the sleeping form of Hermione. It was sweet to see. But suddenly the peaceful calm of the moment was broken.

Hermione was starting to wake up. She stretched her arms out, and sighed, making Ron start suddenly, and look away, almost sadly, out of the window. And, for some reason, his ears had started to turn a pale pink, which only happened when he was embarrassed, of caught doing something that he was not suppose to be doing.

I was puzzled. It almost seemed as if my prat of a brother might actually have it badly for his, Harry's, and of course my friend Hermione.

"But that is almost imposable," I reasoned to myself. "If he did like her, then why, would they bicker all the time? As if they could hardly stand to be in each others company?"

I was confused. "Why, if it were true, would my brother act out the opposite of what he feels? Unless… of course, he thought that she would never like him. Although I was certain that that was not possible, I decided to leave that matter alone. After all, didn't I have some problems of my own to puzzle through?"

By now, both Hermione and Harry were awake, and Ron was once again acting like his usual self. He was acting totally ignorant of the ways of the opposite sex. Hermione had a book in her hand, and Harry—Harry was staring dully out of the window.

And so with such companions as I had, at that point, I decided to write a letter to Dean.

"Now…" I pondered, "What should I say?"

So I started to write... well, at least I tried to, but I just could not think of anything to say. And that was quite unusual on my part...

"_Dearest Dean,_" I began.

I scratched the beginning of my letter out. It just did not seem quite right. I tried again. And I tried yet again. But nothing worth sending came out of my quill and onto my parchment. I was frustrated.

"_My Dear Dean,_

_How has your summer holiday been treating you?"_

No. That was not going to work. I crumpled the sheet up. Why couldn't I think of anything to write to him? I mean he was my boyfriend after all.

I was practically screaming with frustration by the time that I had several crumpled sheets of paper scattered around where I was sitting.

Finally, I had found an approach. And so I began writing.

I was so engrossed in my letter that I did not see the owl struggling to keep up with the carriage.

And I was so engrossed that by the time I had finished my letter, signing it—_"Love Ginny."—_That I had not noticed the letter sitting serenely by my side. I also did not notice my brother, Ron, edging over to where it was laying. All that I knew was that he had written to me. But before I could attach my own letter to Dean's owl, it had flown away.

I suppose that I could send it when we are at Hogwarts.

Suddenly, Hermione spoke up.

"Ronald. I don't think that you should be reading Ginny's mail. I mean Dean is her boyfriend you know."

I started. And what I saw made me boil inside. My idiotic prat of a brother was about to open my letter. My letter.

"Ron…" I began, but Hermione finished for me.

"Ronald, don't you know that it is extremely rude to read another persons mail like that? Don't you know that that is Ginny's? And don't you know that she has not even read it herself? Why don't you just hand it over to her now?"

"But Mione…" he started, "I just wanted to know what that git would write to her."

"Dean Thomas is not a git!" I protested loudly.

Sighing, Ron handed me the letter.

Unhurriedly, I unrolled the parchment… savoring every moment of it. As soon as I had it unrolled, I began to read. Slowly.

"_Dear Ginny,_

_I am sorry to have to inform you in this manner, but…"_

Surely it was not going to be something bad. I thought to myself. But as I continued reading, my blood began to run cold. Bits and pieces of his letter jumped out at me.

…You see, there is someone else…my neighbor…a very sweet girl…she's a muggle…so Ginny, don't you see? I just cannot possibly continue seeing you… how about we just call our relationship quits. Maybe we could even still be friends…

_Sincerely, Dean_

I did the only thing possible. I crumpled both my letter to Dean, as well as his own letter to me into a very small ball. And hurled it as hard as I could manage in the opposite direction. And for the first time in my life… well almost the first time, I cried. And for the practically the first time in my life, I had to admit something to myself. Ron was right… at least this time. Dean Thomas is a git.

I was so worked up with myself, and my cauldron of boiling emotions, that I did not see the quiet form in the corner bend down and pick up my letters, and tuck then quickly into his front pocket.

All four of us were silent for the rest of the trip to Hogwarts.


End file.
